Revolution of Self-Organizing Network for 5G MmWave Small Cell Management: From Reactive to Proactive

The mmWave frequency band has been widely accepted as an ideal carrier for the next-generation ultra-dense small cell communications to achieve the ambitious objective of 1000-fold increase in network capacity, but such a novel architecture also invokes tremendous anxiety for operators regarding the planning, configuration, maintenance, optimization, and troubleshooting. SON, introduced about 10 years ago, aiming to affiliate network management through addressing complexity and decreasing cost in an automatic way, nowadays has been extensively considered the only viable way to enable small cell deployments; however, as a technology traditionally designed and standardized for LTE-based systems, the conventional paradigm will no longer be suitable for mmWavebased cellular networks, which contain some peculiar characteristics, such as directivity of signal transmission and sensitivity to blockage and mobility, differing from their low-frequency counterparts and thereby bringing numerous unprecedented challenges. To smoothly migrate toward the 5G era, the legacy SON campaign eagerly demands a thorough revolution to think over the new features and cope with the new problems by defining new functionalities and proposing new algorithms. It is important, but not easy. In this article, we share some preliminary insights about the mmWave-oriented proactive SON paradigm, hopefully spurring further research in this area and accelerating its practical application in 5G.